Sizzle Media web design Manchester were initially approached by Blacksheep, Manchester’s leading skateboard shop and skate park, to design a 'skin' for an EKM Powershop system enabling them to trade their skate wares online. It soon became apparent that cheap is not always cheerful. Whilst you would be forgiven wanting to find a quick solution, as Blacksheep discovered, a 'quick' setup does not equate to a functioning website that is ready to trade.

After demoing our Lava Ecommerce Platform to Blacksheep it was apparent that our ecommerce system, customer service and web design capabilities were far more tailored to their requirements and flexible business ethos. Sizzle Media were able to clearly demonstrate the many benefits of our affordable ecommerce solutions and our flexibility in making sure that Blacksheep received the quality of service expected from a quality Manchester web design studio.

The payment integration proved to be a challenge as Blacksheep had already chosen the infamously tricky HSBC gateway, which a short amount research on the web will tell you is a pain in the a**e to work with. However Ben our Technical manager overcame the challenge with his web fu and will be releasing instructions as to how we can save you a few handfuls of hair.

Blacksheep are now taking orders and join the growing number of vibrant ecommerce projects in our web design portfolio. If your business has chosen a cheap off the shelf solution like EKM Powershop in haste, then feel free to contact us today on freephone 0808 14 333 00 and we will do our best to show you a more tailored and focused business service by Manchester’s most affordable web design studio.

We've recently been pretty chuffed to discover that one of this blog's first posts, "xHTML and CSS Web Design" has been copied and shamelessly re-appropriated by a reasonable number of other web design firms. "But Sizzle, why would this make you happy?" we hear you cry. Well, people only nick stuff of value - like our content!

We admit it's a teensy bit annoying to know that should Google get the wrong end of the stick, we could theoretically be penalised for having our unique, well-written content duplicated on other sites (although it's pretty unlikely this would happen). But in the most part, we feel good. It's nice knowing we don't have to rely on content theft to get by, and it's nice knowing we've got the skills to succeed in this industry while behaving in a totally ethical, creative way.

Besides, every decent creative company encounters this kind of thing all the time. It would be ridiculous to keep getting upset. In any creative industry, it seems only a small proportion of participants actually create anything new, and normally it's the little guys like us. Big advertising agencies regularly 'borrow' ideas, without credit, from the Internet (see this pesto advert vs this Youtube classic, or this Pot Noodle advert vs the Flight of the Conchords, or this Sugar Puffs Advert vs The Mighty Boosh's 'crimping')

Is there anything that can be done about content theft and outright plagiarism? Not really, no. People who steal content don't feel any qualms about it, and getting them to change it will probably be met with a spam attack. In our case, we're legally in the right but it's obviously not worth getting upset over, and taking legal action would be... Ridiculous.

We're full-time nerds at Sizzle, so it's essential that we're able to keep up-to-date on the latest goings-on in the exciting world of geekdom (when we're not busy being Manchester's best web designers, of course). And what better way to do so than via the medium of blogs? This post is going to serve as a little introduction to some of our favourite blogs and news sites, and might help introduce you to a whole new and exciting web community!

One of the best blogs on the Internet, Engadget provides the brand-spanking newest updates on technology-related news and product launches, keeping everyone informed about the latest gadgets they're not going to be able to afford. They're in close competition with very-similar-but-not-totally-the-same Gizmodo, but we prefer Engadget's spaced-out, airier design. Although they're very similar in terms of content, really.

Next up are the SEO blogs. There are two resources we love here at Sizzle, SEOmoz and SEOBook, although both suffer somewhat as a result of their totally anti-Google opinions. We like Google - their existence has been great for the Internet! There's also a fair bit of competition between these two, with regular articles 'calling out' one another. But they're invaluable resources which do great jobs of discussing sleazy SEO tactics and providing impartial, sensible advice about site development and usability issues. SEOmoz also has the brilliant YOUmoz blog, providing user-created articles for even more search engine reading.

Speaking of google , every good nerd should keep up to date on the official Google Blog, as well as the blog of their public-facing 'Search Quality' guy Matt Cutts. These provide platforms for Google to announce their latest developments, while providing an insight into the inner workings of The Big G. Very interesting stuff.

.net magazine is a great (if a little simplistic) resource for budding web developers, hindered only by the fact that transcribing code from a paper-based magazine is awfully hard work. But this isn't an issue for their web-based version, which compiles the latest goings-on in the worlds of web design and technology news, with regular featurettes on popular sites. It's a little less jargon-driven than the other sites discussed so far, but is still a fab web design resource.

Design-wise, we're big fans of Smashing Magazine's blog. Lots of links to really cool-looking sites, handy CSS design tips and tricks, and some really stunning bits of graphical design. Phwoar.

For video game news, you can't beat VoodooExtreme, aka VE3D. There are many sites like it, but something about VE3D's design and writing style just grabs us. And you can't beat high-definition gaming trailers without having to link out to some external, advert-ridden site.

And finally, there's Fluid Creativity's blog. While they're technically our 'competition', they're also very cool dudes. Problem is, we can't find the 'Older' button anywhere on the page, so are limited to only reading the newest posts! But a grand blog regardless, with links to Fluid's recent media design goodies.

Here at Sizzle, we're focused solely on providing quality web design services to small businesses in Manchester. And that's exactly what we did for Read Associates. A true Mancunian crew (well Greater Manchester technically), the Salford-based team specialises in office partitioning and refurbishments, giving small businesses the kind of overhauls which bring their day-to-day work up to a modern standard... Very similar to our own business goals, except we always prefer work which doesn't involve heavy lifting!

Their new website can be checked out at ReadAssociates.com and features a wide range of wonderous dynamic features, from gallery functionality through to portfolio pages and a Content Management System, with an enquiry form giving visitors the ability to easily contact the business without having to email or call. And, of course, this is all backed up by a sleek graphical design from our award-winning in-house design crew.

For the best web design in Manchester, contact the gang here at Sizzle today - We've got mad skills!

Today marks a monumentous occasion in the history of Manchester's I.T. industry - the launch of the Sizzle site! From this day forward, businesses across the North West will be able to get the professional web design they deserve, at highly-affordable prices and done with a smile.

You might be thinking 'who are these guys?', so let me explain. (more...)